CRYSTAL FROM THE AIR (AGAIN): This photograph appeared at last Monday's (October) meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society (VAAS). It belongs to Birmingham resident Dennis Lamont. I worked the photo through Adobe Elements 2 software, and this was the result. The original is lighter and is also somewhat murky at the lower left corner. I extended Lake Road some in this copy.
Looking at the auto in the pic I'd guesstimate that we're looking at a picture taken in the 1930's. I don't know the cars from that era too well by sight (I'm a '50's person), but when I search for automobiles of the '30's I find that they are similar to the one in the picture. This doesn't rule out the idea that it might have been taken in the 1940's, but it pretty much eliminates the "Roaring Twenties".
This particular photo allows an interesting view of Nakomis Park just west (to the left) of Crystal. It's not nearly as populated as it is today. And there is also a better view of the parking area across the street from Crystal. Note the absence of vegetation.
Again,guesstimating, the pic looks to have been taken in the morning or near noon (by the shadows), and it might have been of a Sunday. Lake Road was a main artery through northern Ohio back then, and the lack of much traffic when this photograph was made is indicative of what Vermilion was like when the old "Blue Laws" were in effect; everybody was sleeping or in church.
VERMILION BOTTLING: This is been a good week for unusual pictures, and pictures pertaining to Vermilion's Bottling/Pop Works are relatively rare.
This is one of several forwarded to me from Marlene Calvert Feldcamp. (Marlene's grandfather, George Blanchatt, was the owner/creator of Crystal Beach Amusement Park.) Her husband's family (the Feldcamps) once owned Vermilion's popworks. No details came with these pictures so I'm at a loss to say who this with the truck (except that his last name was most likely Feldcamp). I've also some interesting pix of the interior of the plant that I'll share at a later time.
The place was located (according to the truck) at 351 Ohio Street. It was near the gully just east of St. Mary's Catholic church. In my mind (which is very little) it was actually located on Tilden Street that runs adjacent to the railroad tracks north of Ohio Street between Sandusky Street (to the east) and Exchange Street (to the west). But it obviously had an Ohio Street address when this picture was taken.
I have more photographs of the popworks at a later time when Vermilion resident Larry Shafts owned it. Those came to me from his nephews, Dale and Larry Hohler. Dale lives in Milan, and his brother, Larry, lives in New York. The Hohler photographs are from a time shortly before the business was fired by the Vermilion Fire Department. They're interesting, not only because the popworks is of historical value, but because the Hohler boys are in the pictures with their cousin(s).
I'm waiting to use those photos until I acquire more information on the popworks. Then I'd like to do a newspaper story on it as well.
But an interesting photo - no?
HOTDOG!!: Here's a "keeper" folks - a real "keeper". Here are Paul and Emily Matrakis having their photograph taken with popular Vermilion resident Steve Demou. Paul looks exactly as I remember.
For those who don't recall, Paul was the owner and operator (along with Emily) of Paul's Snack Shop in downtown Vermilion. The shop was located between Litman's (etc.) Newstand (now Berk's Real Estate/Appraisal) and the barber shop on Liberty Avenue. Paul had a business card that read something like: "Seats 7000 7 at a time". It was small place then, and remains thus now. Today a little shop called "Nemo's Subs" occupies the space.
Paul and Emily were our neighbors when we lived on Perry Street. They owned the house on the northwest corner of Perry and Ohio Streets. One thing I do remember is that every once in a while Emily and Paul would have an argument. And because our side yard was very close to their back door - not to mention the fact that they were rather loud - we heard every word. The basic problem was that because they were both natives of Greece their arguments were always unintelligible (to us). But amusing.
I liked both of them. Paul was easier to talk to than Emily. She didn't seem to know much conversational English. I also like Paul's hotdogs. After a hard day at school there was nothing better than a hotdog with everything from Paul's that I'd wash down with a rootbeer. Good stuff!
Paul was a wealthy man. I know he loaned his compatriots money for business purposes. When he retired, he packed his bags, and he and Emily went back to Greece. I assume he lived rather well when he got back to his homeland.
I have great memories of Paul and his little shop.
THE HARBOR: Someday I'll track this boat down and talk about it. While this was a postcard pic I'm sure that there is some further significance to it. I've used it before, but this is a better quality reproduction. My thought is that this a boat that was once owned by J.R. Dall who owned several auto related businesses in Vermilion. If the name seems familiar to local residents it is. This is the same family that founded J.R. Dall Ford (dealership) in Elyria. One of the Wakefield girls indicated to me that her family and the Dall family were good friends. But be that as it is, I've been thinking about "harbor" things, and when I do it usually means that I've been thinking/writing about the legendary boat Captain "Big Ed" Lampe.
Big Ed not only captained boats (i.e. the Sidney and Wayne and the Grandon), but he also designed and built them. In 1919 he built The Peerless, next The Vermilion, a sandsucker that was over 100 feet in length, and in 1939 the tug Chinook. The great sandsucker Vermilion was destroyed by fire. I've no idea as to what happened to the rest of his boats.
At the moment it is the Grandon, in particular, that occupies my thoughts. I believe it was Lampe's last great boat, and it surely was an ill-fated craft.
Entering the harbor on the Sunday evening of May 9, 1937 the Grandon collided with Lorainite Peter Mille's sailboat that had lost auxillary power when returning to port (they were trying to scull the craft with the rudder), and Mille, his wife Ethel, and his brother, George, all lost their lives.
I doubt that there was much that Captain Lampe could have done to prevent this mishap. A year later the Grandon was attached by an attorney of the Mille family who was suing Lampe. I've not been able to find a further disposition on the craft. I understand that Lampe acquired the contract to take down the old L.S.E. bridge whem the electrics stopped running in 1938 - and that while taking it down the bridge fell on, and sunk, his boat. But I don't know if it might have been the Grandon. I haven't yet been able to find the story on it.
I've been writing about "Big Ed" for some time now and I'd like to finish that story. But I can't if I don't know what happened to that boat in particular. I know that he had another boat after it, and that he had to quit working because of his health (he died in 1947), but I'd like to find the story about the bridge accident and the fate of the Grandon. So if anyone can help me I'd appreciate it.
VERMILION'S SMITHY: And this is Jeremus I. Howell of Coolidge, Georgia. This gentleman, of course, was one of Vermilion's earliest blacksmiths. He was born in the deep south before the American Civil War. People who think they have it rough would do well to know that when he was a little boy he never heard of such a thing as Christmas gifts. "Roving about the woods" was Christmas to him.
Howell's migration that led him to Vermilion had a great deal to do with the war. Initially he and his family fought on the side of the Confederacy. Laying off the battlefields at night they'd pass the time talking across no man's land with the Union troops. When they found out that they were fighting "for" slavery, they changed sides. After the war the family traveled north and J.I. settled in Vermilion.
Although he returned to the home of his childhood (as you can see) when he retired from smithing he always maintained contact with his friends and family in Vermilion and Ohio.
This is a picture his great-grandson, Larry, loaned me. Old J.I. was quite a handsome fellow.
HERE'S YOUR SIGN: I don't know, folks - everyone is being smart now. I think I scared ya'. Every reader I come across (now) always has something pressing to do, and cant' talk with me. I don't understand this phenomenon.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES:
Ray Beursken tells me that the VHS class of 1955 has scheduled their 50th class reunion on September 10, 2005 at the Boat Club. Class members of 1955 should put this date on their calendar. They're hoping for a good turnout.
A gal named Shelly from the Class of 1985 tells me that "the VHS class of 1985 will be having a 20 year reunion in the summer of 2005......no further details. The name of the organizer is Kim Schultz."
Persons interested in having their VHS (and vicinity) reunion plans posted on this site are welcome to do so. I can't provide anyone with webpages to post their activities in depth, but I can provide a link to existing pages and/or post some activity items here. All anyone need do is contact me at my email address and pass along their material electronically.
As news regarding VHS reunion activities comes to my attention it will appear on this web page. So stay tuned.
The Beat Goes On: The page is generated by the dreaded Macintosh Computer and is written and designed by (me) Rich Tarrant. It will change weekly ~ usually on Saturday. Bookmark the URL (Universal Resource Locater) and come back at your own leisure. Send the page to your friends (and enemies if you wish). If you have something to share with those who visit this page, pass it on. And if you see something that is in need of correction do the same. My sister, Nancy, is a great help in that respect. It only takes me a week to get things right. And follow the bookmarks. You might find something you like. If you experience a problem with them let me know. Also, if you want to see past editions of this eZine let me know and I'll send them to you.
Links to other sites on the Web
Vol.2, Issue 30, October 16, 2004
© 2004 Rich Tarrant